Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea and Regional Director of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Cairo, Bassel Al-Khatib, have signed a project document for the development of environmentally friendly industrial parks in Egypt.
This comes within the framework of the global programme for environmentally friendly industrial parks in developing countries. The project is funded by the Swiss government and implemented by the UNIDO.
The minister said that environmentally friendly industrial complexes provide opportunities for strategic planning and effective management of industrial complexes to achieve economic, social, and environmental goals and are considered an effective tool to overcome challenges related to comprehensive and sustainable industrial development.
Gamea added that sustainable industrial zones contribute to attracting more local and foreign industrial investments, which contributes to providing job opportunities and increasing income while preserving the environment and facilitating the transition towards a green industry and a circular economy by reducing greenhouse gas emissions resulting from manufacturing processes in addition to optimally using resources.
The minister pointed out that this project will support the government’s efforts to improve economic, social, and environmental performance of the industrial zones and that it focuses on supporting industrial policies and the legislation necessary in order to establish sustainable industrial zones.
She further noted that the project provides technical support services to agencies responsible for managing the industrial zones and service providers and small- and medium-sized factories.
Additionally, the project qualifies these agencies to comply with international standards of sustainability, as a number of industrial zones will be qualified as pilot models that will be referenced when application begins on a larger scale in all industrial zones in Egypt.
Furthermore, Gamea explained that the signing of this agreement is a continuation of the implementation of the programme for country partnership (PCP) that was signed between the Egyptian government and UNIDO last year with the aim of achieving comprehensive and sustainable industrial development.
The PCP includes six main axes that include industrial policies and governance, investment promotion, green industry and smart cities, as well as sustainable industrial zones, and value chains.
For his part, Regional Director of the UNIDO in Cairo Bassel Al-Khatib said that the project is part of the fourth component of the PCP with the country on sustainable industrial zones, which aims to increase competitiveness, innovation, and sustainability in cities.
Al-Khatib added that this project will follow a new integrated approach that focuses on reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions while attracting investments and creating job opportunities in industrial zones in Egypt.
He also explained that the development objective of the project is in line with the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme (GEIPP), represented in demonstrating the feasibility and benefits of environmentally friendly industrial parks approaches in increasing resource productivity and improving the economic, environmental, and social performance of companies and businesses, allowing them to contribute to comprehensive and sustainable industrial development in the country.
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